Company aims to open by the end of the year

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The Aegis Treatment Center will open in offices near the corner of First and V streets in Eureka. The goal is to open before the end of the year, Aegis officials said. (Jose Quezada — For the Times-Standard)

Aegis Treatment Centers has found a new spot for a Eureka location and hopes to have the facility on First Street open before the end of the year.

“I am so excited,” said Aegis CEO Alex Dodd on Thursday. “It’s been a long search so I am very happy we have found a location. I think it’s a good building.”

Dodd said there is no set timeline for opening the facility, but the goal is by the end of 2019 or the beginning of 2020.

“When you have to outfit a building, you are somewhat at the mercy of contractors. Then we have to go through the licensing period. So that’s why we cannot be precise,” Dodd said. “We will work as quickly as we can. It would be lovely to get open before the end of the year.”

The new location near the corner of First and V streets in Eureka will likely employ around 10 to start and aims to treat hundreds of patients for opioid addiction. The office will be open seven days a week and 365 days a year from 5 a.m. to 1:30 p.m, Aegis northern regional manager Judson Lea said.

He said that allows patients to “get their medication and get on with their lives,” noting the majority of the patients the center will treat are considered “stable.” He also said a “site concierge” will greet guests and watch the perimeter of the complex to deter loitering and smoking.

Aegis Treatment Centers currently have about 10,000 patients in 33 California clinic locations and Lea noted that “80 percent are opioid-free after the first 90 days in treatment.”

Aegis hub-and-spoke grant coordinator Sarah Vogel and Aegis northern regional manager Judson Lea stand in front of the future home of the clinic. (Jose Quezada — For the Times-Standard)

Last year, the company announced a location just outside of Eureka city limits on Harris Street, something that did not work out. The new location closer to Old Town seems to be met with more enthusiasm. And Aegis officials took extra steps to meet its new neighbors.

“They assured us that it is going to be very safe,” said Brenda Fregoso, who handles public relations for Humboldt Transit Authority. HTA has a property right across the street from the planned treatment center.

“They were pleasant to meet with,” Fregoso said, adding Aegis employees also knocked on the doors of local residents, finding one of HTA’s own employees as part of that effort.

Eureka officials are also invested in the new location.

“The council was certainly interested in seeing that happen,” said Eureka City Manager Greg Sparks. “The key was finding an appropriate location and they’ve done that.”

Aegis takes what it calls a hub-and-spoke approach to treating addiction. The hub, in this case, is Aegis and the spokes are local primary care physicians and other treatment facilities. Aegis said it is drawing from a $4.8 million grant, much of which Sarah Vogel, Aegis’ hub-and-spoke grant coordinator, said is being used to provide Naloxone to various community organizations. The hub-and-spoke approach allows for the company to reach across the county, coordinating with locations including Open Door Community Health Center in Willow Creek and K’ima:w Medical Center in Hoopa.

Lea said Open Door worked with Aegis and seven local clinics count among the local “spokes.”

“We met with Herrmann (Spetzler) quite a bit,” said Lea. “It was one of his goals to coordinate primary care with (treating substance abuse).”

Open Door’s Cheyenne Spetzler was not available to comment Thursday on her late husband’s continuing efforts to see Humboldt County residents treated, and directed inquiries to Linda D’Agati who said, “all of our leadership is in alignment with Herrmann Spetzler’s goals” when asked about seeing a goal of Herrmann Spetzler’s being realized.

Eureka resident Dr. Lois Jensen is looking forward to the new clinic opening. She currently works as a clinic manager for the Chico and Marysville clinic locations, and as a result, spends considerable time traveling.

She said her experience with Aegis has taught her some lessons that she intends to bring to the Eureka clinic.

“I’ve learned that not every method of treatment is going to work for every client. Sometimes you just have to see what’s available and if they might help clients,” she said Thursday afternoon. “I’ve learned this is not a smooth process for anybody. There are stops and starts on the way.”

She said the exciting part of the treatment process is seeing the true potential of patients.

“What is exciting for me is to see people get to a good therapeutic dose and you see the whole person change. It’s amazing,” she said. “All of a sudden they are making changes in their lives, they are getting job interviews. They are fixing their house, their car. They are a different person now.”

Aegis officials stressed working with the community was integral to the mission of the company. As part of that, employees participated in cleanups across the county with the PacOut Green Team.